Pages

August 23, 2012

I'm Lovin It

Wecome to the latest edition of all the things (products, pins, blogs, etc.) I'm loving right now!

Current faves include:

Favorite pin on pinterest:
I try not to ever actually make any of the recipes that I pin on Pinterest because, let's face it, I only pin "sometimes" foods and never veggies or salads. But we are all obsessed with the Louisiana Chicken Pasta dish that they serve at the Cheesecake Factory. We made this last week and it was delish! And since it requires about 45 gallons of cream, it will probably be a while until my arteries want it again. However, it was worth every calorie.

Favorite Blogs: Right now, I am really loving Abbie's writing at 5 Days, 5 Ways. She's hilarious, down to Earth and VERY pregnant with twin girls. She also got more style in her pinky finger than I could ever have and I'm gaining tons of inspiration from her sight about how I'm going to overhaul my fall wardrobe.

I'm also really digging Anissa's writing at Free Anissa. She's an adult adoptee (which plays out very little in her writing) who had a stroke a few years ago and is now wheelchair bound. Anissa's writes from the heart and gives me a great perspective of what her life is like from her chair. She's such a gifted writer and good person and I can't help but love everything she posts.

I've read an obscene amount of adoption books but this is, by far, one of the best ones I've read. (For those entrenched in this world, I put it right up there with Parenting The Hurt Child - yep, it's that good.) Not only is this book chock full of information about the whys of attachment difficulties, but it's also crammed with ACTUAL REAL LIFE strategies. The author is a social worker who has been working with families in tough adoption/fostering situations for over two decades. What I love the most about this book (besides the great info and easy to understand writing) is the format. The author calls it "magazine" style and it makes it easy for us busy moms to be able to read for a few minutes at a time between distractions and still pick up TONS of information. This book hits on everything: loss, triangulation, birth parents, case studies, self care for parents, and everything in between. I'm adding it to my list of mandatory reading for those of you who email and ask what you should be doing while waiting for your kiddos to get home! This book is a gem. (I'm also giving away a copy at the bottom of this post!)

Favorite Target Dollar Spot Item:
Because seven hours a day at school isn't enough, my kids play "school" almost all afternoon. With all the teacher items on sale right now, I took my daughter- aka, the permanent teacher, to pick out some new things for her bedroom classroom. We got a lot of junk, but our favorite thing by far are these cute little Cat In The Hat whiteboards. These things have been erased no less that a billion times this week and they are still just as white as they started out. Plus- they make practicing writing your name over and over SO much fun!

Favorite Etsy Shop: More Love Mama. Cute,, authentic African fabrics made into precious things. Doesn't get much better than that. Except it does- huge chunk of the proceeds help kids in the Congo.

Favorite Beverage: Once again, I've given up my beloved Diet Pepsi (I've actually lived without it for almost a month which is a new record for me!). I used to give it up and not replace it with anything. But the addict in me had to replace it with something. Here's what I'm now hooked on:

All the yumminess of fresh iced tea without having to brew it! It's really helping me kick the soda.

﻿

Favorite Site For A Good Deal:Two Frugal Mamas. Every Monday, these ladies put out a HUGE list of all the books that are available on Kindle for FREE. I've found some great reads that way. They also post lots of other super deals from all over the internet. (And none of those crazy things like how they started making their own cheese to save money like so many of those other extremist deal sites!)

Favorite App: Kids Eat Free. This one lets you put in your current location and it will tell you where you what restaurants are around you where your kids can eat for free. The app costs $.99 but has saved us TONS. ﻿

Favorite Girl: This one right here.

And now on to the giveaway. Enter to win a copy of THE ADOPTIVE AND FOSTER PARENT GUIDE: HOW TO HEAL YOUR CHILD'S TRAUMA AND LOSS using the rafflecopter widget below.

Please be aware that all content of this blog is copyright protected and is the sole property of the writer. Please do not pass off my posts as your own or copy my work without my permission. If you ask nicely, I'll probably say yes. If you don't ask, I may hold a grudge and try to whoop up on you. Please and thank you!